That's quite the story!
by SillyRabbit0xo
Summary: The crew spends some time relaxing, sharing stories at the campfire. As it turns out, one crewmembers turns out to be pretty good at it!
1. Chapter 1

Wiping her forehead with one hand and leaning on the railing with the other, Nami looked down from the upper deck to see if her captain was anywhere in sight. It had been a particular hot day and the Strawhat's navigator had steered them to the westside of the nearest island where the cliffs and overhanging trees provided them some well-needed shadow. The crew had spent the afternoon lying lethargically on the lawn deck or cooling down in the inflatable swimming pool that Franky had set up on the side of the ship. However, while the sun was slowly descending, a soft breeze took some of the heat out of the air and it was time to get moving again.

Nami frowned and put her hands on her hips, as the rubber man was nowhere in sight. "You guys, has anyone seen Luffy?" Brook, who was lying on the lawn with arms and legs stretched out, raised his head. "Ah, alas Nami-san, I have not seen him. Although, I don not have any eyes to see with in the first place. Yohohohaiiiii!" His signature laugh got cut short by a sandal hitting him in the face. Even though he has no… "To be honest, I haven't seen our captain for quite some time now." Robin mentioned, looking up from her book. "Do you want me to look around the ship for him?" She already motioned to cross her arms, but at that very moment…

"RRRAAAAAAAHHGHGGGGHHHHHH!" A horrific shriek came from the opposite side of the deck that Nami was on and suddenly everything was in motion. Franky seemed to jump out of nowhere and aimed an arm full of missiles at the kitchen door, where the scream originated from, but failed to notice Brook's outstretched form and tripped, causing the projectiles to launch in several directions. Nami ducked behind the railing, Brook scrambled behind the main mast and Robin kept reading calmly in her lawn chair, which was being pulled to safety by a row of arms that appeared out of thin air.

Usopp and Chopper, who had been in the swimming pool, were peeking over the edge of the deck, only their eyes and noses visible. "So scary! I don't want to go back to the ship." Chopper whispered. "Neither do Iiiaaaiiiii!" Usopp yelled in pain as Zoro jumped down from the crow's nest, katana's drawn and still half asleep, right on the sniper's nose. "Hmhzzz… Is that damned harpy from Punk Hazard back? I could swear I heard her scream!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Is everyone still alive? Geez, Franky." Shaking her head at the man's actions, Nami tried to calm things down. "Chopper, please check on Usopp's nose. Brook, you can come out now. Zoro, go back to sleep."  
"Don't order me around, woman."  
"Fine. Zoro, do whatever the hell you want."  
"I always do."  
"Yeah, I knów."  
"And what's thát supposed to mean?!"  
"Thát, means that no matter what I say…."

Before the two could get into one of their full-blown quarrels, Robin decided to intervene, partially because she was curious about something and walked up to the pair. "Nami-san, Zoro-san, shouldn't we try to find out who was screaming and why?" Both of them looked at their friend and momentarily forgot they were arguing. Franky joined them and added: "You guys! I was sleeping in my workshop below deck, when I heard this sssúperrrloud scream and I thought we were being attacked!" "So you decided to jump out, guns blazing and try to shoot everyone to kingdom come?!" Nami felt heat rising to her face again, even more so when Franky answered. "Oh, but these ain't guns, nee-chan. Look, I developed these new missiles and…."  
*KLUNK!*  
"I DON'T CARE!"

The sound of Nami screaming and her Clima Tact connecting with the cyborg's head had to be heard across the entire ship, because suddenly the door to the galley opened and Luffy's head appeared. "Oi, you guys? Why are you making so much noise? Is everyone fighting?" "GET THE HELL BACK HERE, YOU MINDLESS DIMWIT! I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU YET!"

Luffy ducked, as a frying pan flew past his head and embedded itself into the main mast. "Wow, Sanji! I didn't know pans could be used like th… AAAHHH!" Following the frying pan were a collection of razor-sharp kitchen utensils, of which one managed to catch the rubberman in his jacket and pin him right beneath the frying pan. Only seconds later, an enraged Sanji emerged from the mess hall. Holding a skewer in his hand, he approached the immobilized Luffy.


	3. Chapter 3

It's not much, I know! But I wanted to update -something- at least, just to let you guys know that I'm not dead (yet) and still working on this story. I've actually written ahead (the part where this story is heading), I just need to 'connect' it with this first section. So next time I update, it will be a much longer chapter than I've done so far. Cheers!

While the scene between the captain and the cook was taking place, the rest of the crew had gathered to stare at them with expressions ranging from shock to amusement. Suddenly realizing he had an audience, his fury seemed to diminish a bit.

"What on earth happened, Sanji?" Usopp dared to ask, though hiding behind his crewmates.

"What do you think happened?!" The cook snarled. "Not only did this gluttonous simpleton manage to sneak into the refrigerator and scare me half to death when I opened it, but he also accomplished in EATING! ALL! OUR! FOOD!" He poked aforementioned simpleton with the skewer after each emphasized word.

Frowning, Nami approached him and whispered softly enough so that Luffy couldn't hear her: "But Sanji-kun, that's why we have a hidden pantry, right? To have some supplies in case of this exact scenario."

"Ah! Alas, my shrewd empress!" Sanji whimpered, ignoring the gagging noises the others were making behind his back. "Because of the heat, I was forced to store all provisions in the chilliest location on the ship."

"Yup! And that's why I broke into the bewitchalligator, to chill!"

"Bewitched… what?"

"He means refrigerator."

"Nincompoop."

"That's Captain Nincompoop for you!"

"Luffy, you do realize that wasn't a compliment, right?"

"Do alligators poop?"

"COULD ALL OF YOU JUST SHUT UP FOR ONE MINUTE!?"

"…."

"…."

"…."

"…."

"…."

"…. Usopp, how long does a minute take?"

*WHACK!*

ONE MINUTE LATER…

After some frustrated pacing, Nami came to a halt and faced her recently injured nakama. "Now that I've gotten a moment to think, IN SILENCE, here's what we're going to do: there should be a town on the other side of the island. We can probably stock up on food there, but we need to make sure we don't scare them into calling the marines on us."


	4. Chapter 4

I honestly thought I was going to have to abandon writing fiction altogether, but I love it too much and have way too many ideas to do so. So here we are, the next chapter. I hope you guys like it!

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It was close to sundown, which was when the elderly folk of Yasuragi normally gathered at the docks to watch the day end. But today was different. After the first cry for alarm, the news of an approaching pirate ship spread through town rapidly and turned the calm atmosphere into a state of frenzy. Children were ushered inside, any object that could be used as a weapon was picked up. One of the townsmen called out: "We will not let those scoundrels rob our homes or kill our families! Let's defend what we have until our dying breath!" The villagers roared in unison and the group gathered at the beach to meet the oncoming terror they had heard nothing but ghastly stories of. Black flag and sails bringing fearsome, merciless…

"Hey. Aren't those women?"

"Sure are!"

"And fine ones, at that!"

"Look! They're signaling!"

"I'm looking, I'm look… ow! Forgive me, dearest."

On board of the Thousand Sunny, Nami and Robin were waving at the villagers wearing nothing more than their bikini's. "Yoohoo! You handsome fellows seem reaaally nice, can we pléase dock our ship at your beaaautiful island!?" Nami cooed. Robin merely waved and chuckled at her friend's tactics.

"Nami, did you consider the fact that the wives of those 'handsome fellows' might not be persuaded by your strategy?" Her question was answered with a big grin. "Don't worry, I've got that part covered."

"OI! WHO THE HELL TOOK MY CLOTHES!?"

"Although 'covered' might not be the right word…" Waving to the angered swordsman, who was wearing nothing but a towel, Nami yelled: "Down here, Zoro! Come and get them!"

Robin shook her head. "Well, that explains why you ordered him to take a shower after his workout."

After convincing the townspeople that they truly meant no harm, the Strawhat crew was allowed to dock the ship. Since the island was fairly small and there wasn't much to do, they all decided to set up camp on the beach next to the docks and wait for Sanji to come back from buying food supplies.

Standing on a barrel with his index finger pointed in the air, Usopp was bellowing out one of his tall tales to anyone who would listen.

"And thát is how the handsome and courageous Captainnnn Ussssoppp defeated the army of a thousand-and-one bandits and rescued the princess from their filthy clutches!" "Last time you told that story there were only fifty bandits, how come there are so many more now, Usopp?" Chopper asked in honest curiosity, still in awe of the young man's bravery. "Yeah Usopp, please tell us how that happened?" Nami demanded, sticking out her tongue.

The sniper blushed and his brain seemed to work overtime before his face cleared. "Ahhh yes! That is because the first time, Captain Usopp did not want to intimidate any of you by his awesomeness! Because he is so modest and unboastful… and ehm… unpretentious and…"

"All those words mean the same, Captain Humble. And that's quite enough from you for one night." Nami huffed. She clapped her hands and looked at the people around the campfire. "Yosh! Who's next?" "Next? What do you mean, Nami?" Chopper looked up at his nakama, who shrugged. "I thought it might be nice to let someone else tell a story for once. Maybe one we haven't heard a hundred times before…" Saying this, the navigator glared at her long-nosed friend, who'd already opened his mouth to set off another one of his Fantastic Fables.

A very big yawn drew their attention to the Strawhat's swordsman. "Yes, Zoro! Go for it!" Luffy yelled, arms raised in the air, clearly in the mood for more storytelling. Zoro looked up sleepily. "What, is it morning already?" "Shishishi, nope! You just volunteered to tell us a story!" "Why the hell would I do that?" Scratching the back of his head, the 'volunteer' moved to reassume his napping position, but was suddenly dragged by one leg to the barrel Usopp had previously occupied.

"Damnit, Luffy! Why do I have to entertain you people? Usopp lóves to talk, make him do it."

Ignoring Zoro's struggling form, Luffy yanked him up and dropped him on the barrel. Then he sat down in front of him, looking up eagerly, like a child in a candy store.


	5. Chapter 5

This must be a record for me ;) Uploading a new chapter in such a short amount of time, heehee. Well, here goes. Hope you guys still enjoy reading the story!

* * *

"Aren't you expecting a bit too much now, captain?" A drawling voice said. Everyone turned their heads when Sanji stepped into the light emitted by the campfire. "Sanji, you're back!" Luffy exclaimed cheerfully. "Hurry up and join us, Zoro was about to tell us a story!"

Sanji laughed. "Ha! As if that seaweed-for-brains musclehead has anything interesting to tell. I'm often surprised he can remember his own name!"

There was a collective sigh from the small band of pirates, because they all knew how this was going to end. A verbal assault-match between the cook and the swordsman always resulted in a physical clash and the camp in ruins. However tonight, something different happened.

"Zoro-san?" Brook asked, noticing his nakama wasn't responding to the insult. "Zoro?" Nami tried, "Are you okay?" Zoro, who had been deep in thought, looked up and realized they were adressing him. "Ah right, I just remembered something." Chopper scooted over to sit next to Luffy. "You remember a story?" "Yeah, one my old master liked to tell. It's called 'The boy who drew cats.'"

It was obvious that Zoro himself had liked it, for a hint of a smile grew on his face as he began.

"A long time ago, on an island in East Blue, there lived a farmer and his wife. They were poor, but had a number of children who helped them work the land. Only their youngest child, a son, was not fit for hard work. He was smart, smarter then his brothers and sisters, but small and weak. That is why his parents decided to send him to the village temple to become a priest instead of a farmer.

The old priest who lived there, talked to the boy for a while. He appreciated the child's intelligence, so he decided to take him in and educate him for priesthood. The boy learned fast and was very obedient in most things. But he had one fault. He liked to draw cats during study-hours and to draw them on everything."

The sound of sand sweeping made Zoro stop talking.

"Like this?" Luffy had grabbed a piece of wood from the fire to draw a cat in the sand, but in his haste he hadn't realized that he was holding it by the wrong end. "Hey Luffy, doesn't that hurt?" Usopp asked and pointed to the still burning embers of the stick. The rubberman looked from his nakama to his hand, frowned and suddenly yelled: "HOTTT!", earning a chorused: "Slow!" from his crew.

After everything had settled down and Captain Nincompoop had his hand treated and bandaged, the crew decided to call it a night. The campfire was slowly dying and everyone had settled on their blankets, ready for sleep. Chopper however, kept raising his head to look around, looking unsure about something.

"Chopper, is something the matter?" Robin asked, noticing his odd behaviour. "I can give you a massage, if you can't sleep?" Already a pair of hands appeared on the reindeer's sides. Cheeks turning red, Chopper mumbled: "I… I want to know how it ends. Zoro's story."


End file.
